John Lewis Harris was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, on the 17th January 1887, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Sarah Ann Harris (née Lewis). His
father was a printer and John was the youngest of four children.
On completing his education, he became a drapery salesman.
He trained as a butcher and first worked at Mosely, Birmingham, and the Central Meat Market, Bradford Street, Birmingham, before joining the crew of the Lusitania as an assistant butcher in the Stewards' Department in January 1914.
When he was not at sea, he lived with his brother, Thomas H. Harris, at 280, Belgrave Road, Birmingham.
He was still serving as an assistant butcher when the Lusitania departed from Liverpool on the morning of the 17th April 1915, and after an uneventful voyage to New York, he was still on board when she set off to return to Liverpool on the afternoon of the 1st May. When the liner was torpedoed and sank off the Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland six days later, he was killed. He was aged 28 years.
His body was never found and identified afterwards and as a consequence, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, Birmingham England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1922, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Birmingham Daily Post, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 2nd January 2024.